Stunning views of Scottish industry from the sky

The nation’s working lives are put in focus but from a different angle, in Scotland from the Sky.

In this third and final episode of the series, Jamie Crawford uses remarkable aerial images to find out how the Scots have harnessed precious natural resources to power industry.

He combines old aerial photographs with present-day drone and helicopter footage to tell a range of amazing tales, from a remote loch near Ullapool to the Carron iron works of Falkirk.

From the air it is clear that island of Belnahua has been almost entirely hollowed out. For here, on the west coast of Scotland, was a thriving slate industry.

The deep quarries are now flooded by the sea. It’s remarkable that so many of our early industries were located in the most beautiful and tranquil parts of our country.

It was not until more modern times that the central belt became the beating heart of industrial Scotland. Jamie meets a worker from Ravenscraig who talks about the harsh and dangerous working conditions they had to endure in one of the largest steel foundries in the world. And the tragedy when Ravenscraig finally closed in 1992.

Jamie travels to Shetland to follow in the footsteps of his dad who came here to work during the oil boom. And he witnesses the Herculean task of dismantling an old oil platform. And once the oil runs out, a new industry will take its place – wind power.

The third and final episode of Scotland from the Sky will be shown on Wednesday, 1 May, on BBC One Scotland from 9-10pm.

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